The works in auction by Phillips are some of the earliest known examples of the famous tuberous forms of Yayoi Kusama, that protrude from the frame, employing her iconic red and white color scheme alongside the polka dots that now define Kusama's career. The two works will be viewable May 6-17 at 432 Park Avenue. They are part of the Agnes and Frits Becht collection.
Kusama moved to New York City in the late 50s to establish herself as an international artist, but found greater success with European artists and audiences at first. From the mid-60s until her return to Japan at the end of the decade, she Kusama aimed to visit, create works and exhibit annually with her European colleagues. Her aesthetic of repetition, accumulation and obliteration aligned well with the New European Tendency, which included groups such as Zero in Germany, Nothing in Amsterdam e GRAV in Paris, among others.
While working in the Netherlands, Kusama created Red Stripes and Blue Spots for the 1965 exhibition, Facetten van de hedendaagse erotiek 1 (Facets of Contemporary Erotism), with Internationale Galerij Orez, The Hague. When she arrived in The Hague, the gallery owners, Leo Verboon and Albert Vogel, provided her with studio space and materials, including a sewing machine and wooden planks like those that form the basis of Red Stripes and Blue Spots . The work Kusama created during this period filled the entire front room of the gallery; the exhibition is therefore considered to be her first solo exhibition in Europe. Red Stripes and Blue Spots caught the attention of Agnes and Frits Becht, who purchased three of the artist's works from the gallery that year, including Chair, 1965, which is now in the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Japan. A fourth accumulation work, given by the artist to the couple to express his gratitude for their patronage, and two collage works, acquired shortly thereafter, complete Bechts' collection. In 1967, the Bechts bought an entire container of Kusama's work, unseen, which got stuck at customs in the UK. Agnes she recalls taking the container to the family home one summer afternoon and laying out all of the nearly forty jobs on the grass in the back garden. It was an overwhelming, even transcendent experience. “It was so good, I think I died for it,” Agnes shared, recalling the moment. It was as if one of Kusama's endless rooms had landed in the Bechts' backyard; they were completely immersed in Kusama's world. Their support for Kusama was early and strong and had a major impact on the artist's ability to continue exhibiting work in Europe through the remainder of the 60s.
Red Stripes and Blue Spots have remained in the Bechts family collection since 1965
An exceptional provenance for the works of this artist. The works have always toured as a set, from their first exhibition in 1968, to their most recent breakthrough at a Yayoi Kusama retrospective in Berlin and Tel Aviv last year. The pair have been part of many notable Kusama exhibitions, including the successful retrospective tours, Love Forever: Yayoi Kusama, 1958-1968, 1998-1999 and Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors, 2017-2019, which together have seen millions of visitors. Recognizable around the world, Red Stripes and Blue Spots are the iconic early works of the international superstar. Kusama's presence in the art world continues to expand with the immersive, all-encompassing and infinite feel of his works resonating with 21st century audiences.
Kusama's characteristic soft, sculptural form arose from her development of the infinity mesh motif in the late 50s and early 60s. The undulation of the two-dimensional overflow nets expands into three dimensions in the tuberous shapes of Red Stripes and Blue Spots, as the eye peers across the different heights and widths of the shapes.
Blue Spots and Red Stripes are some of the earliest examples of tuberous shapes
The works focus on squared boards hung on the wall like paintings while the soft streaked and spotted shapes covered with fabric reach out towards the viewer. Red Stripes brings together perhaps her most iconic color scheme of red and white, while Blue Spots provide an early example of the polka dots that would define Kusama's career. Though it was made while working in Europe, there is a level of vulnerability in Kusama's work, as seen in Red Stripes and Blue Spots, that sets her apart from her European contemporaries. Throughout her career she has repeatedly expressed that creating art is a life-saving practice that allows her to process and express the trauma and mental illness she has experienced. The emotional vulnerability of this practice makes it even more accessible and relatable, even sixty years later.
